


No White Knight

by Sanalith



Series: Lost and Found [2]
Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2012-03-19
Updated: 2012-03-19
Packaged: 2017-11-02 05:48:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,990
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/365621
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sanalith/pseuds/Sanalith
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rumpelstiltskin is no knight, and Belle isn't your traditional damsel, but once he knows she's still alive, he'll do whatever it takes to rescue her. Sequel to Spinning Truth.</p>
            </blockquote>





	No White Knight

The best lies are planted with the seeds of truth, so when Rumpelstiltskin began his search for Belle, he first traveled back to her father’s castle. It was easy enough to slip in unnoticed, either using a glamour or under the cloak of invisibility. As he suspected, Belle had indeed made her way home, no doubt expecting a warm and happy reunion.  
  
Instead, from what he learned, she’d been greeted first with fear – Had she broken the compact? Would the evil imp release their kingdom and leave them at the mercy of the ogres? – and then deep loathing – What had she done to displease her captor? How had the Beast despoiled her?  
  
Finding the tower in which she’d been imprisoned, Rumpelstiltskin summoned the ghosts of the past to tell their own tales, no longer willing to listen to the lies and rumors of others. He weaved the past into a brief life, his heart aching as he saw the spectre of his lost love submit herself to first verbal and then physical abuse. Watching the demons who had the gall to name themselves holy men flailing her pale skin was one of the most painful scenes he’d ever witnessed, but he forced himself to watch, knowing this was all his fault.  
  
 _~You sent her away in fear and she paid in blood. She was right, you ARE still a coward!~_  
  
And just when he thought it couldn’t get any worse, he heard her sweet voice raised in anger, not to defend herself…but to clear _his_ name.  
  
 _Defending him!_ The one who drove her to this, the one who denied her and tossed her out like so much rubbish. He took away her freedom to play one of his endless games, and then, when she no longer suited his purposes, he threw her back to the wolves of her old life. She should despise him. But somehow…she didn’t.  
  
The priests demanded she tell them what sinful acts she committed with the Beast, so they might purify and “heal” her, but she named him a prince among men, screamed that the only beasts in her life were the ones in this room. They called her his whore, certain she was protecting her demon-lover, that she’d given herself – body and soul – to evil. She called herself his true love, his companion, his friend.  
  
If Rumpelstiltskin still had a heart, it would have shattered.  
  
The “cleansing” continued as the priests and her father demanded she confess to sins never committed, to carnal acts to grotesque he wondered in what ancient tome they’d even _read_ of them. And just when he was beginning to lose hope, just when he thought she might have truly thrown herself off the tower to end this torment… _she_ appeared.  
  
She’d clearly been watching, waiting for the perfect time to sweep in and offer to services to the poor, delusional girl who was clearly so deep under the monster’s influence that no normal exorcisms could save her. As Queen, however, she had certain…talents…that might prove effective. Would they consider giving the girl into her tender care? She could certainly end up no worse off, after all.  
  
Belle’s father took one look at the girl huddled in rags and retorted, “Do what you will. Just get that slut out of my sight.”  
  
And the Queen smiled with blood red lips and claimed her prize.  
  
A snarl clawed its way up from the darkest depths of his soul as he allowed the shadows to fade back into nothingness. Slut. Whore. Demon lover. Evil possessed. She had saved their entire kingdom! Her bravery and courage were the only reason these pathetic creatures still breathed! They should be groveling at her feet, worshiping her as the goddess and savior she was. Her pinky finger was worth more than the entire kingdom combined. But instead of thanks…she received this.  
  
He had half a mind to remove his protective spells and let the fools rot in an ogre’s belly, but breaking deals had its own consequences, and even though he’d released Belle, the bargain was still intact. And somehow, he knew she would never wish her so-called family and friends dead, no matter what they did to her. That was her gift, and her curse.  
  
But she _LIVED_!  
  
Battered and bruised but never broken, he now knew for certain that she lived. The Queen would not have taken her only to kill her. She’d use her as a bargaining chip, as leverage against him, and dead bait was worth nothing. She lived. That was enough.  
  
Armed now with knowledge, that most deadly of weapons, Rumpelstiltskin transported himself to just outside the Queen’s castle. He knew she had wards surrounding every inch of her estate, alerting her immediately of any intruders, which meant he didn’t have time to be fumbling around. He needed to locate Belle before even entering, if such a thing was possible. Interestingly enough, that didn’t seem to be a problem.  
  
One of the castle towers was encircled with even thicker magic, making it blindingly obvious to anyone who cared to look that she had something of value locked inside. And even more telling were spells he sensed that were just for him, to alert her specifically if he entered. Such an open signal meant one of two things: She either never expected him to actually come looking for her but took extra precautions just in case, or her arrogance had grown in leaps and bounds since last they’d spoken, and so confident was she in victory that she openly taunted him.  
  
Rumpelstiltskin felt his lips curve in a feral grin. He _so_ hoped it was the second. He’d been playing this game since long before the Queen was born. If she thought for one moment she held a winning hand, he’d show her just how easy it was to flip the cards.  
  
Since there was no point in sneaking around, as the Queen’s wards would alert her no matter what he did, Rumpelstiltskin decided to go with the direct approach, which was more his style anyway. Opening himself to the full strength of his Dark Magic, he blew open the wrought iron castle gate and strode confidently through the main entrance. Walking as though it was his own estate, he looked neither left nor right, bounding up twisting stairs and down long corridors with no hesitation. Servants jumped out of his path when they saw his eyes, not daring to impede his progress. Those few who attempted to stand their ground were simply flung elsewhere with a flick of his wrist. Doors flew off their hinges as he approached, not wishing to deal with silly things like locks or handles. And if he sensed a quicker path through a wall, he made quick work of that as well, crumbling stone to dust with a simple thought. Magic cracked and sizzled, leaving destruction in his wake. He hardly even noticed. _She_ was waiting for him. Nothing else mattered.  
  
Rumpelstiltskin hesitated only once in his journey, and that was when he stood outside the door to her tower cell. Though the portal was spelled specifically against him, he cared not. Filled with Darkness as he was, no puny ward conjured by a silly young Queen could stop him.  
  
But the woman waiting inside could, and with no more than a single glance.  
  
In the shadows he’d raised at her former castle, she’d openly defended him, calling him a prince and her true love, a title he’d vehemently rejected only days earlier. He was not worthy of her, and yet she seemed not to care. But was it true, or merely bravado on her part? What if she’d been lying simply to spite her tormentors and she truly hated him, as well she should? What if she cringed at the sight of him, recalling his cruel words and even crueler actions? Would she… _could_ she…forgive him?  
  
It was almost laughable, had he been in a laughing mood. The two most powerful creatures in the land, battling for this simple human girl, facing one another with powerful and deadly magic, trying to turn the game in their own favor…when in reality she held all the cards. The Queen’s magic couldn’t touch him, but one hurtful glance from Belle’s eyes would destroy him utterly.  
  
He allowed himself exactly five seconds of such thoughts, knowing his time was almost up. Gathering his power, he punched through the Queen’s spells and shattered the door into a thousand splinters. Whatever waited for him on the other side, at least he’d face it with the woman he loved.  
  
For one brief, almost terrifying moment, he thought the room was empty. It was small and circular, with a narrow bed as its only furnishing. Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide. But then he saw her, huddled in a tiny heap directly under an arrow slit that served as a window. A thin shaft of sunlight pierced the gloom and touched her hair, giving her the appearance of an angelic halo. She was haggard and pale and much, much too thin. Her face was dirty and her lips were cracked and bleeding.  
  
He’d never seen a sight more beautiful.  
  
Stepping forward into the room, he opened his mouth, intending to deliver one of his grand, flowering speeches to test her mental capacities and mood. Something perhaps about slaying her dragons and rescuing the fair damsel…when the words caught in his through and left him suddenly, horribly speechless.  
  
Dragons and damsels. He was no knight on a white horse, no prince come to save her. He was merely the next monster in a long line, and one who’d already proven himself unworthy of her. Who was he to play the hero when _she_ was the one saving everybody…or at least trying to.  
  
No tricks, no jokes, no impishness this time. Better he start with something more important, more _real_. Something like, “Are you all right?”(Clearly inane…of _course_ she wasn’t all right!) Or perhaps, “The Queen will be here any moment. Can you stand or shall I carry you?” (Pointless, as he could feel the Queen already approaching, and what if she couldn’t bear him touching her?) Or that all-important, two-word phrase that meant so much but was always so impossible to say: “I’m sorry.” Yes, that one would do nicely.  
  
But when she raised her eyes to his, tired and worn but still touched with a spark of defiant life, all he could do was choke out her name in a voice he didn’t recognize as his own.  
  
“Belle.”  
  
And in that one syllable he poured out all those impossible emotions. Her name became apology and question, expressed relief and fear, and he took another step forward and found his hand reaching toward her in supplication.  
  
“Belle.”  
  
The powerful Rumpelstiltskin, the Dark One, reduced to a beggar at her feet.  
  
And then she was pushing herself onto unsteady legs, tripping over the rags that were all that remained of her dress, and she was falling into his arms and burying her face in his neck, clutching him with all her remaining strength.  
  
“I knew you’d come,” she whispered, her voice raw from screaming and sobbing. “I knew it.” _~I forgive you.~_  
  
“She told me you were dead.” His voice was hoarse, full of self-loathing, and he pulled her even closer. “She said you threw yourself off your father’s tower and died.” _~I’m sorry I’m late, so sorry you suffered for so long…~_  
  
“But you knew I was alive.” _~I still love you. And this proves you love me.~_  
  
“I knew.” His hand tightened in her dark, tangled curls. “No matter where you are, no matter how far you go, I’ll always know.” _~Because I’m never letting you go again. No matter what. It’s forever, dearie.~_  
  
“Rumpelstiltskin.” His name was a ghost of breath at his ear, and he shuddered deeply at its power. _~Forever. It’s a promise.~_  
  
He allowed himself the glory of her embrace for half a second longer, then gently pushed her back just enough to look into her eyes.  
  
“The Queen will be here momentarily. We must leave. Are you_” He swallowed, trying to find the right words. “Are you undamaged enough to travel?”  
  
“My left ankle is twisted badly, perhaps even fractured, but I’ll manage.” Her eyes burned fiercely. “Just keep me steady…” She hesitated. “…and don’t press too hard on my back.”  
  
His eyes burned as he remembered the whips and flails, but he checked his rage – for later – and simply nodded. Grasping her hand, he began to tug her forward, but Belle held her ground.  
  
“I understand now,” she said quietly, almost darkly. “I didn’t before, but I do now, after being here with her and seeing what she’s capable of. And just in case anything happens, I want you to know.” She reached up and framed his face between her hands, half-tenderly and half with a firmness that belayed her fragile state. “You’re the only one who can stand up to her, the only one she just might fear. Without you to keep her in check, we’d all be crushed under her boot. No wonder you thought she’d try to weaken you in any way possible.” Gently, she stroked his cheek and whispered, “Your powers _are_ more important than me. And as long as she lives, they have to be.”  
  
Rumpelstiltskin wanted to rage at her, to call her a foolish, naive child. What would it take to convince her that he truly was a beast, not this prince she insisted on seeing, that such selflessness was beyond the Dark One’s ken. He kept his powers for himself, because he wanted them, because he knew that without him he was nothing more than a coward with a lame leg and a family who deserted him. How much more rejection must she suffer before she saw him as the monster he truly was?  
  
But he raised her hand gently and pressed a gallant kiss to it, vowing to be – at least in that moment – whatever she wished.  
  
“You’re the hero, dearie, not I, but I’ll rescue you just this once so you can go on slaying the world’s monsters.”  
  
Perhaps a black knight could save damsels just as well as white?  
  
And she smiled like the sun, understanding every word he didn’t say, and in her eyes he saw, for the first time, the possibility of his own happy ending.  
  
And then he felt the surge of magic behind him and knew their time was up.  
  
“Well, well, well, isn’t this touching?” Her voice was velvet over shards of glass. “I wondered if you’d ever bother to look for her.”  
  
Rumpelstiltskin gently pressed Belle away and behind him, shielding her suddenly even more fragile form with his body as he turned to face the Queen. “Just waiting for the right moment,” he replied, his mouth twisted into a mockery of a smile. “But you know all about that, don’t you?”  
  
“Timing is everything,” she agreed, almost listlessly. “But you did find her, and you clearly had no difficulties destroying my wards…and half my castle.” Her red lips pursed in annoyance at that. “I suppose now you think you’re just going to waltz out of here? The knight rescuing his lady from the clutches of the evil Queen?” She laughed, low and dark. “How quaint.”  
  
“We both know I’m no knight,” he spat, “but you had the first part right.” He flicked his wrist, dismissing her as though she were his lowly servant. “Now step aside, dearie, and I won’t destroy any more of your precious castle.”  
  
The Queen gave a mocking bow, gesturing openly toward the shattered doorway. “By all means, leave at your leisure. I have no doubt you can show yourselves out.” Her eyes glittered. “Of course, your lady love won’t survive long enough to enjoy your triumph, but perhaps that’s of little concern, since you already rejected her once.”  
  
Already drawn to his breaking point, Rumpelstiltskin felt his anger rising from its tight leash. “And just what the hell do you mean by that?”  
  
“It’s quite simple, really.” Her smile grew as she practically sauntered closer. “I not only placed spells around this tower, I placed a spell in _her_.” Belle shied away instinctively as the Queen jabbed one long fingernail in her face. “If she leaves the walls of this castle, she dies. The end.”  
  
He felt Belle tense beside him, and he immediately whirled around, grasping her face between his hands – as she’d so recently done to him – and gazed deeply into her wide eyes.  
  
And yes, there it was. This time, the Queen was not bothering with lies. She’d indeed been spelled, the traces of magic all too visible. Wordlessly, Belle questioned him, and he hated to give her the only answer he could.  
  
 _~I may be more powerful, but not even the Dark One can undo another magician’s curse. Those are The Rules. No way to cheat, not this time.~_  
  
But a dark smile touched his lips as he released his love, knowing that there was more than one way to break a spell. In another circumstance, he might almost have pitied the Queen. She was playing a game she had absolutely no hope of winning. Not against him.  
  
“Well, that’s all well and good!” he declared, spinning around and showing his teeth in a macabre grin. “This is almost as nice as my own estate, and with a few minor adjustments, I’m certain we’ll be quite happy here.”  
  
The Queen’s smile froze on her face. “What are you talking about?”  
  
“It’s quite simply really,” he mocked, tossing her words back. “If Belle can’t leave the castle, then it’ll become our new home.” With an elaborate flick of his wrist, he drew an ornate dagger from his sleeve, and he raised it to his lips. His name blazed from the steel, and he twisted it to ensure the Queen saw, as he drew his tongue across the blade. “I’ll just kill you and take your castle.”  
  
If the Queen feared the Dark One’s dagger, she kept her emotions well hidden, but the twitch in her lips proved this was not at all the response she was expecting. “So that’s it?” she demanded. “You’ll keep her locked in this castle for the rest of her life, like a prisoner? Your personal slave, is she?”  
  
“Better my prisoner than yours,” he spat, stepping closer, the dagger now clutched tightly in his fist.  
  
“Are you sure you wouldn’t rather bargain for her freedom?” she pressed, now clearly becoming alarmed as she slowly backed away.  
  
“Oh no, dearie. We’re not bargaining today. Perhaps never again.” He stalked her around the room, his eyes blazing hotter by the moment. “You think your pathetic little tricks and spells can best _me_? I always pegged you as slightly naïve, but never stupid.” He was now backing her toward the wall. “Once I kill you, I’ll simply expand the castle. It’s a bit small, after all, so some additions would clearly be welcome.” Closer still he came, and she felt cold stone against her back. “I’ll just expand and expand, whenever and however I feel like. Sometimes left, sometimes right, sometimes both at the same time!” Maniacal laughter pierced the cell as he practically danced toward her. “Perhaps I’ll expand until the castle covers the _whole damn kingdom_!” He stood toe to toe with her now, his lips twisted in pure anger, and he raised the dagger to her throat. “And if the walls are still too cloying for her, I’ll make them invisible. She’ll be free to go wherever she wants, whenever she wants, and still she’ll never leave the castle. Oh yes, quite a prison indeed.” The insanity of the Dark One bubbled until his eyes were crazy with it. “So what do you say, dearie?” he whispered, the dagger caressing the delicate skin just under her chin. “Perhaps now _you’d_ like to make a deal.”  
  
The Queen glared at him with more hatred than he’d ever known was possible for a human to feel, but her quick, heavy breathing told him he’d won, and won big. She had nowhere to run, and she’d lose even in death. If nothing else, he was right about one thing: She wasn’t stupid, and she’d lost this round.  
  
Growling low in her throat, she turned to face Belle, and after a moment of concentration, she waved her hand in a complicated arc. A frisson of power filled there air, and then dissolved.  
  
“It is done,” she bit out, each word filled with venom.  
  
Rumpelstiltskin snorted, but he removed the dagger from her throat. “We shall see.” He returned to Belle’s side, and the hand that had moments ago been ready to deal out death now cupped her chin ever so gently, and she raised her eyes to meet his. Gazing into them deeply, he probed her mind, checking for residues of lingering spells, not trusting the Queen to have simply dispelled one curse and inflicted another. But for once she seemed to be telling the truth. Belle was free of magical influence. He smiled softly, to show she was fine, and she grasped his hand tightly.  
  
It was done, indeed.  
  
He turned back to the Queen, twirling the dagger with one hand as he contemplated her. Despite her compliance, the wisest course of action would still be to kill her. This demonstration of his superior power would last only until she discovered some new spell that convinced her she had the upper hand, and she’d try to best him again. Worse, he now had a weakness for her to exploit, and he had no desire to place Belle in that sort of precarious position. The Queen would never let them live in peace, and if there was one thing his love deserved after all her torment, it was a life lived without fear.  
  
But she would not want him shedding blood on her behalf. It was why he couldn’t bring himself to set the ogres on her father’s castle, and why he sheathed the blade now with a gleam in his eyes. He stepped forward, placing his lips near the Queen’s ear, and lowered his voice for her alone.  
  
“I won’t kill you now,” he murmured, “because it will upset her, and you’re not worth that. But know this. Belle is mine, and you of all people know I don’t like sharing my treasures. You will not touch her, you will not look at her, you will not so much as breath the same air she does, for if you do, I will inflict such merciless pain on you that you’ll be begging me to simply slit your throat.” Leaning back slightly, he stared deeply into her wide eyes, his teeth bared in a grisly smile. “Do I make myself perfectly clear, Your Majesty?”  
  
“Crystal,” she growled, her lips so red they might have almost been smeared with blood.  
  
“Excellent.” He knew this wasn’t the end, not truly, but for right now, it was enough.  
  
He swept her a mocking bow, then turned back to Belle, his lips relaxing in a true smile.  
  
“Come along, dearie,” he said, extending his hand. “It’s time to go.”  
  
Without hesitation, she reached out to him, but instead of grasping the offered hand, she enveloped him in a deep embrace, leaning against his chest and tucking her head underneath his chin.  
  
“Take me home, Rumpelstiltskin,” she whispered, tightening her arms around his waist.  
  
“Ah, Belle.” He cradled her against him, a miracle he never thought to experience.  
  
Forget dragons and knights and damsels and evil queens. Their story was no fairytale, but he swore he’d spend the rest of his life giving her the happy ending she so deserved.  
  
“Home it is.”  
  
 _~Forever.~_


End file.
